Kazakhstan government members meet with heads of industrial giants

27.06.2016 21:02

Government Members headed by Prime Minister visited Karaganda region. Local authorities spoke about the most problematic issues of the region. Mining and smelting industry issues were discussed at a meeting with the heads of giant companies.

Zhenis KASSYMBEK, MINISTER OF INVESTMENTS AND DEVELOPMENT OF KAZAKHSTAN:

As for "Areselor Mittal Temirtau", the selling price for the metal has increased by 35% from April to June this year which has affected profitability of local processors and builders, as the price of the metal takes approximately 50-60% of their production cost. There are also questions to the unsatisfactory quality of the metal supplied by the factory, which incurs additional costs for our processors.

The leaders of Arcelor Mittal, the Eurasian Group, Kazakhmys requests to the government was a lot - benefits for transportation, and easing the tax regime. In response, the Prime Minister asked them to preserve jobs despite the economic difficulties. This is especially significant for Kazakhstan’s steel manufacturer. The metallurgical plant has cut 8,000 jobs over the past 5 years.

Government members discuss social issues

In general, the visit was aimed at solving social issues. The ministers visited the new laboratory of the Technical University, kindergarten construction site and the first in many years residential complex of high-rise panel buildings. Houses are constructed with the use of local plant’s materials which reduces construction cost by 15-20%.

Taikhan KALMAKHANOV, DEPUTY MAYOR OF KARAGANDA:

The main advantage is construction speed. We have built this house just in 4 and half months. It is energy efficient, thermal insulation is provided in the panel itself. It has energy-efficient windows.

Construction of large panel houses in Karaganda was successful. Moreover, the contractor promises to speed up construction in future, special technology has been already elaborated. It is planned to build 1800 apartments in Karaganda next year. The ministers have not limited their working visit only to Karaganda region; it is known that they are planning to visit other regions of the country as well.